Worried a step down in salary will keep you from ever again earning what you used to earn? It won't.

Been job hunting for months? Having a tough time getting interviews and an even tougher time getting job offers? If so, consider what you'd do if you got an offer next week for a job paying 15 - 20 percent less than your last job?

If your first thought is, "I'd turn it down immediately," let me suggest another response.

If the job you're offered provides a chance to transfer your skills to a different industry, an industry that's expanding rapidly, it can be worth an initial step down in income to make that transition. That's especially true if the field you previously worked in isn't hiring.

The same argument holds if the company that made the offer is growing rapidly. Maybe the company's fast pace of growth necessitated costly investments in equipment and/or new facilities --- and the dollars left for hiring new personnel aren't voluminous. If the work environment excites you and you see the company's growth continuing, then again, it can be worth accepting a salary lower than you'd hoped for to get your foot in the door of that organization.

If you're worried that a step down in salary will keep you from ever again earning what you used to earn, consider the salary increase you'll likely get when you land your first promotion in the new company.

Naturally, you'll want to verify that advancement potential is available before accepting the job being offered. You can do that by asking the interviewer why the position is vacant. If the interviewer answers, "Because we just promoted the person in that job," you'll know advancement is an actual --- not merely a theoretical --- possibility. If the interviewer's answer is, "We're about to promote the person currently in that job," once again, you can say "Yes" to the job offer knowing you'll have opportunities to move up --- both in title and probably in earning power since higher salaries commonly accompany promotions.

Apart from the advancement and increased earning potential of the job being offered, recognize the benefits of simply becoming reemployed. While job hunting, you may have noticed that some employers have a preference for recruiting employed people over those currently unemployed. The longer the period of unemployment, the more pronounced this preference can be. You'll regain your "employed" status immediately by accepting the job being offered.

And remember, you don't have to stay in that lower-paying job forever. In fact, if a year after starting the job, you don't see as much potential for advancement or increased income as you expected, you can discreetly start searching for another job. The difference is you'll be searching as an employed person. That will eliminate the need to answer such interviewer questions as "Why are you unemployed?"

Plus with a regular paycheck coming in, you may interview more confidently --- and as a result, generate multiple job offers with at least one offering the higher salary you want.

Recognize, too, if the job you're offered next week enables you to acquire a year of on-the-job experience in a new field, the year spent in that lower paying job should serve you well. If you pursue your next job in that same field, rather than prospective employers viewing you as someone without any experience in their industry, they'll likely consider you an industry insider --- with at least a basic understanding of the jargon, customers, and products or services unique to that field. That perception can help you secure a job with a higher salary than the first job you landed in that field.

Finally, consider the financial benefit of becoming employed again. If it took four months to get this first job offer, ask yourself how you'll cope financially if you turn the offer down and have to wait four more months for another job offer.

People commonly turn down job offers early in their searches confident they'll find something better soon. Those same job hunters often feel differently months later when they're still unemployed and haven't had another offer.

That's why accepting a job involving a step back in income can be a smart move. It provides immediate income and reentry to the ranks of the employed. Plus, if the job offered was the company's only vacancy, it may have been offered just to get you onboard --- so you weren't employed elsewhere when an expected higher-paying role materialized. That could mean your next move up happens even faster than you expect.

Sheryl Silver's experience as a recruiter and outplacement consultant enables her to bring a real world perspective to her blogs about job hunting, career management and the latest employment trends.